Perception of Life Changes: The Situation Structure and Stages of Accepting Change

Background. Contemporary researchers explore the perception of a situation by analysing the cues of an environment and the subjective meaning attributed to the cues by an individual. A recent study has shown that people with various attitudes to life changes describe the indications of a situation of change with similar frequency; however, they differently interpret and evaluate these indications. Continuing this rationale, this work is focussed on resolving the issue of a qualitative analysis of such indications and the structure of a perceived situation. Objectives. The study aims to develop a model of perception of life changes, the stages of adaptation to change are defined. Study Participants. The study involved 216 participants aged 17 to 55 years, mean age 28.5±9.8; 182 females, 34 males. Methods. Data were collected using open-ended questions to self-report a person’s interaction with a situation of change and the indications of change (qualitative data) and the questionnaire Types of Response to a Situation of Change (TRSC, quantitative data). Three groups of participants were formed based on the TRSC data. The qualitative data were analysed to identify recurring patterns and a process-oriented coding approach was used. Results. A concept model of the structure of a perceived situation of change has been substantiated. The model includes the following components: the perceived signals used by an individual to categorise life changes; appraisals of the changes, emotions towards them, coping strategies and “prospective adaptations”. Based on a qualitative analysis, the structure of the situation of changes for three groups of participants is described: 1) those who accept change, 2) those who do not accept change, and 3) those whose attitudes to change are ambivalent. Four stages of adaptation to change have been identified: 1) avoidance, 2) change in the perception of the situation, 3) acceptance, 4) desire for change. These stages describe a repertoire of human responses in the process of adapting to life changes. Conclusions. The proposed model presuming that coping shall be considered in the structure of a perceived situation, enables the explanation of the functions of coping in the three groups of individuals who have various patterns of response to change and who perceive the situations differently